The Simple Life

Listen to me, O coastlands, and give attention, you peoples from afar. The Lord called me from the womb, from the body of my mother he named my name. Isaiah 49:1 (ESV)   "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, And before you were born I consecrated you; I have appointed you a prophet to the nations." Jeremiah 1:5   But when God, who had set me apart even from my mother's womb and called me through His grace, was pleased…. Galatians 1:15     For You formed my inward parts; You wove me in my mother's womb. Psalm 139:13   Evil enjoys destroying what God has created. Those who desire to normalize the destruction of babies in the womb are the epitome of evil. The destruction of a society always begins with a disregard for legitimate authority, and God is the only legitimate authority.   The cycle throughout history is clear. First, we replace truth with lies and validate our lies by consensus. Next, we undermine our detractors' credibility through relentles...

Thus says the Lord, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: "I am the Lord your God, who teaches you to profit, who leads you in the way you should go. Oh that you had paid attention to my commandments! Then your peace would have been like a river, and your righteousness like the waves of the sea; your offspring would have been like the sand, and your descendants like its grains; their name would never be cut off or destroyed from before me." Isaiah 48:17-19 (ESV)   Hindsight is always 20/20. Those who love God, and who walk with Him in reverence and obedience, will one day be successful. Those who choose to ignore Him will regret their actions. Hearing God does not mean we obey Him, but in order to listen to Him, we need to hear Him.   I am thankful that God is willing to guide me. He alone knows what the future holds, and He alone can control every detail of life. I know not the future and can control very little, other than my attitude.   For now, the choices are mine. ...

You are wearied with your many counsels; let them stand forth and save you, those who divide the heavens, who gaze at the stars, who at the new moons make known what shall come upon you. Behold, they are like stubble; the fire consumes them; they cannot deliver themselves from the power of the flame. No coal for warming oneself is this, no fire to sit before! Such to you are those with whom you have labored, who have done business with you from your youth; they wander about, each in his own direction, there is no one to save you. Isaiah 47:13-15 (ESV)   We often quote the verse about the wisdom available in many counselors. We seldom quote the verse that tells us that we can become wearied by our many counsels. It matters who the counselors are and what they are saying. If the counselors love God and walk with Him, the advice will be golden. If they ignore God and walk in ignorance, their advice will be destructive.   For now, we have the choice of to whom we will listen, and ...

You felt secure in your wickedness, you said, "No one sees me"; your wisdom and your knowledge led you astray, and you said in your heart, "I am, and there is no one besides me." But evil shall come upon you, which you will not know how to charm away; disaster shall fall upon you, for which you will not be able to atone; and ruin shall come upon you suddenly, of which you know nothing. Isaiah 47:10-11 (ESV)   Feeling secure in wickedness is the most insecure security available to man. Those who are wicked will one day be found out. They will be exposed as evil, and all that they supposedly lived for will be exposed as fraudulent. There is no way for the wicked to prosper, because they can never be secure in their wickedness. Wickedness bears the fruit of anxiousness, and anxiousness eventually leads to hopelessness and depression.   If we deal with the wickedness in our lives, the anxious, hopeless depression will disappear. We need no miracle drug or activity; we n...

"Remember this and stand firm, recall it to mind, you transgressors, remember the former things of old; for I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me, declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things not yet done, saying, 'My counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish all my purpose,' calling a bird of prey from the east, the man of my counsel from a far country. I have spoken, and I will bring it to pass; I have purposed, and I will do it." Isaiah 46:8-11 (ESV)   God said that He has a purpose and that He will do it. He is not random. He will accomplish His purpose no matter what I think, do, or say. If I want to be a part of what He does, I need to choose to be a part of it. If I choose to ignore Him or say no to Him, I lose.   One cannot think that God is random or tied to our personal responses. He is not. My only hope is to be in sync with Him. https://www.podbean.com/relate365

"Turn to me and be saved, all the ends of the earth! For I am God, and there is no other." Isaiah 45:22 (ESV)   The word "saved" in this verse is a primitive root meaning to be proper, to be open, wide, or free (by implication) to be safe.   Everyone can turn to God or ignore God, because God has given them that choice. Even though we have the option of truth or ignorance, we do not have the choice of consequences. Our ideas and actions have consequences, and even though we can choose the path we take, we cannot decide where it ultimately leads.   Paths go somewhere, and only fools think that all paths go to the same place. If I choose to believe lies, then I also choose to look foolish when my lies are exposed. In fact, those who choose to live lies spend enormous energy trying to convince others that their lies are actually "truth," and they can never really enjoy the journey. If I choose to turn to God, acknowledge Him as God, and allow Him to love me, ...

For thus says the Lord, who created the heavens (he is God!), who formed the earth and made it (he established it; he did not create it empty, he formed it to be inhabited!): "I am the Lord, and there is no other. I did not speak in secret, in a land of darkness; I did not say to the offspring of Jacob, 'Seek me in vain.' I the Lord speak the truth; I declare what is right." Isaiah 45:18-19 (ESV)   God makes it very clear that He is God and there is no other. The only way this life will make any sense is if we live in this truth. If God can be amazed, I bet He is amazed at man who wants to have Him continually prove that He is God. It would be as if I were around you all the time, and you were constantly asking me to prove that I was Dave.   God has clearly communicated the fact that He is God, that He loves, that He is the creator and sustainer of life, and that those who seek Him, find Him. We need to look for Him honestly.     Learn More at Relate365.com https://w...

For thus says the Lord, who created the heavens (he is God!), who formed the earth and made it (he established it; he did not create it empty, he formed it to be inhabited!): "I am the Lord, and there is no other. I did not speak in secret, in a land of darkness; I did not say to the offspring of Jacob, 'Seek me in vain.' I the Lord speak the truth; I declare what is right." Isaiah 45:18-19 (ESV)   It seems like the theme in Isaiah is that God is God and there is no other. Perhaps if we all really knew that, and lived like that, we would be in a better place. Those who know God know how to love. Those who know God know what to hate (not who, but what). Those who know God know what is essential. They know what to live for and are not afraid to die.   Those who do not know God seem to be forever spinning their life tires in the "mud of life," expending much energy, while going nowhere. Their lives are full of self-inflicted misery. https://www.podbean.com/rela...

“I am the Lord, and there is no other, besides me there is no God; I equip you, though you do not know me, that people may know, from the rising of the sun and from the west, that there is none besides me; I am the Lord, and there is no other.” Isaiah 45:5-6 (ESV)   It seems that God, for some reason, needs to keep stating the obvious. However, if God keeps saying it, we need continual reminders that He alone is God, and there is no other.   This might be hard to grasp in a culture that would consider idols "silly" waste. Yet a people who usually love what we should use and use what we should love can easily get everything out of alignment.   If God is God alone, then I need to act as if God alone is God. This means that He possesses a place, both in history and in my life today, that is uniquely His. This means that He alone is my hope, authority, guide, and counselor. This means that all other values are measured by how they bring Him value.   https://www.podbean.c...

"But now hear, O Jacob my servant, Israel whom I have chosen! Thus says the Lord who made you, who formed you from the womb and will help you: Fear not, O Jacob my servant, Jeshurun whom I have chosen." Isaiah 44:1-2 (ESV)   Once the phrase, "thus says the Lord God," is uttered, no more is needed to be said. When the ultimate authority in the universe speaks, all others must remain silent. God was, is, and will be the only authority.   When I live as if I am an authority, I lose, for I can never be the absolute authority. Not only is it clear that God is the only and ultimate authority, but we are told that during our most vulnerable time, when we are being formed in the womb, God was present, active, and responsible for our very creation. Those who advocate abortion are Satanic in that they are trying to destroy the creative work of God, as well as the ability of God to demonstrate His mercy and grace to another person.   Ultimately, Satan loses because those murde...

"You are my witnesses," declares the Lord, "and my servant whom I have chosen, that you may know and believe me and understand that I am he. Before me no god was formed, nor shall there be any after me. I, I am the Lord, and besides me there is no savior." Isaiah 43:10-11 (ESV)   There is only one God. There has always been only one God, and there always will be only one God. We must know who God is.   Since there is one God, He has names, real names, that represent Him. It matters what name we use to describe Him, and it matters that we do not use His name in vain. Using His name in vain is to lie about something. We want to claim authority, so we use His name. We want to soften the hardness of a decision we make, so we use His name. Satan is the father of all lies, and there is no greater lie than to lie about what God has said, what He meant, or what He represents. I need to spend time discovering Him, not making Him up. https://www.podbean.com/relate365

Hear, you deaf, and look, you blind, that you may see! Who is blind but my servant, or deaf as my messenger whom I send? Who is blind as my dedicated one, or blind as the servant of the Lord? He sees many things, but does not observe them; his ears are open, but he does not hear. The Lord was pleased, for his righteousness' sake, to magnify his law and make it glorious. Isaiah 42:18-21 (ESV)   Why would anyone be intentionally blind and deaf? Those who are blind or deaf need to work harder at understanding the world around them, and they can easily be taken advantage of by those who can see and hear.   The irony here is that those who are blind and deaf do so by choice. Then, perhaps they roam the earth crying about not being able to see or hear. They talk about not seeing God, or not hearing God, when God is plenty evident if they would just open their eyes and choose to listen.   Choosing to be blind and deaf to God will prove to be a bad idea. https://www.podbean.com/r...

    "I am the Lord; that is my name; my glory I give to no other, nor my praise to carved idols. Behold, the former things have come to pass, and new things I now declare; before they spring forth I tell you of them." Isaiah 42:8-9 (ESV)   God is God alone, and no one or anything else can take His place. Yet, it seems as if one of the greatest temptations we have is to take the glory that belongs to Him.   Often, we want to use God to gain status, rather than love God and enjoy the status that comes from being His. We seem to enjoy pointing to us when good happens, and question God when "bad" happens. We relish the good times without a thought towards God, while desperately praying to Him when things have gone south.   Taking a bow should be reserved for God, while bowing is reserved for us. He, alone, is God, and He, alone, should be glorified, and all those who, for any reason, steal His glory on this earth will, one day, wish they had not. https://www.podbean...

Behold my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen, in whom my soul delights; I have put my Spirit upon him; he will bring forth justice to the nations. He will not cry aloud or lift up his voice, or make it heard in the street; a bruised reed he will not break, and a faintly burning wick he will not quench; he will faithfully bring forth justice. He will not grow faint or be discouraged till he has established justice in the earth; and the coastlands wait for his law. Isaiah 42:1-4 (ESV)   Those who come to God broken need not fear that their brokenness will be used against them. In fact, the bruised will not break, and those with very little hope will not be crushed. In this life, it is not my strength that matters; it is God's strength. My wisdom is limited; God's wisdom is unlimited. My power is virtually non-existent, and God's power is everywhere.   My goal in life should not be autonomy, but dependency. I need to be dependent upon God, and anything that allows me the privil...

Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. Isaiah 41:10 (ESV)   "They are poor and needy. God must have room in which to work. Emptiness to receive Him; weakness to be empowered by Him. It is into the empty branch that the vine-sap pours; into the hollowed basin that the water flows; the weakness of the child gives scope for the man's strength." (F. B. Meyer)   The principle of "weak being strong" is clear and consistent throughout the Scriptures. As in all true things, we can observe this principle manifest in various ways. A mind that is full, or already made up, cannot accept new ideas and cannot learn. The one who perceives themselves as strong will not ask, seek, or desire help.   False perceptions of ourselves often make us "God," independent, needing no one, and all-powerful, when in reality, we are just the opposite.   We need to live i...